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Saturday, February 2, 2008

[CA] Fired Officers Hired Here: Maywood Police Department

Fired from other law enforcement agencies? Click HERE For City of Maywood Employment Application.

A man who was convicted of theft and resigned from the Los Angeles Police Department was hired Friday night as the interim chief of the Maywood Police Department... Hutchings replaces another interim chief who was convicted of beating his girlfriend and resigned from the El Monte Police Department before being hired at Maywood... His conviction was later overturned on appeal because the defense was not allowed to exclude a juror who had previously worked with domestic violence victims.

Convicted cop hired as Maywood police chiefAl Hutchings, formerly with the LAPD, got the job despite opposition from rank-and-file officers and the city's attorney.Los Angeles TimesBy Matt Lait matt.lait@latimes.comFebruary 2, 2008[Excerpts] A man who was convicted of theft and resigned from the Los Angeles Police Department was hired Friday night as the interim chief of the Maywood Police Department, an agency that has a reputation as a haven for misfit and criminal cops. Despite fierce opposition from some rank-and-file officers and the city's own attorney, Al Hutchings was selected for the position by the Maywood City Council... Last year, a Times investigation into Maywood found that at least a third of the officers on the force had either left other police jobs under a cloud or had brushes with the law while working for Maywood... Court records show that [Hutchings] had pleaded no contest to bilking the LAPD for bogus overtime pay while he was an officer. He has since received a court order expunging his record... Hutchings was also fired from Los Angeles Valley College in 2005, where he worked as a professor and was terminated for acts of dishonesty... Before his probationary year [at Maywood Police Department] was finished, however, Hutchings was accused of misconduct of his own. Police and city officials said he agreed to resign from the Police Department after he was allegedly videotaped having an on-duty liaison... In an interview hours before he was hired, Hutchings said Maywood Police Department was a dysfunctional agency with incompetent officers and that he hoped to "shut the place down and bring in the Sheriff's Department." He said he would donate his salary to the Catholic church and to people who had been victimized by Maywood officers. Hutchings replaces another interim chief who was convicted of beating his girlfriend and resigned from the El Monte Police Department before being hired at Maywood. That chief's conviction was overturned on appeal, and he was ultimately convicted of a lesser charge of making a verbal threat... Mayor Felipe Aguirre, prior to Friday's vote, said he supported Hutchings because he believed he was an honest man who would reform the department. "Nobody has the courage to clean this place up," he said. "We need to hire someone who can right this department."

From 2006:

REGULAR MEETING OF THE MAYWOOD CITY COUNCILTuesday, June 13, 2006 7:00 p.m.CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION:[Excerpt] ...Alfred Hutchings, has been hired to fill an existing vacancy as full-time police officer. He will serve an eighteen month probation period., effective June 16, 2006.

From 2007:

Probe of Maywood police is requestedThe City Council asks the state to examine claims of brutality, racism and sexual abuseLos Angeles TimesBy Hector BecerraFebruary 15, 2007[Excerpts] Allegations of sexual misconduct, racism and brutality are roiling the Police Department in the small suburb of Maywood, prompting the City Council this week to request an immediate investigation by the state attorney general's office... several women say officers stalked and sexually abused them, according to a document obtained by The Times... Even top city and police officials acknowledge there is a problem. 'Do I feel some of the residents have valid points? Yes I do,' said Police Chief Richard Lyons... City officials, including members of the commission, hired Alfred Hutchings, 44, a Chapman University associate professor and former Los Angeles Police Department officer, as a policeman... Chief Bruce Leflar appointed Hutchings to head a newly created Professional Standards Unit... officers had 'a reputation for sexually harassing victims of crimes, especially domestic violence'... Not long after Hutchings was named the department's professional standards manager, Leflar went on medical leave, and soon after, Hutchings' internal affairs investigation was put to an end. 'Ofc. Hutchings will not be conducting I.A. investigations as previously mentioned in a Department e-mail,' Maywood police Lt. Paul D. Pine told police officers in a Nov. 19 memo... Chief Lyons said he could not say how many officers were already being investigated internally... He declined to discuss Hutchings. A civil rights attorney, Cynthia Anderson-Barker, said she has clients who filed complaints that went nowhere. She said many of the allegations involve the same officers and span several years... Mayor Sergio Calderon reminded residents that there were good officers in Maywood. 'They put their life on the line every day and every night,' he said.

Attorney general to investigate Maywood policeLATimesBy Jessica GarrisonMarch 4, 2007[Excerpts] California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown has announced plans to conduct a "top to bottom" review of the Maywood Police Department, following allegations of sexual misconduct, racism and brutality... Critics have charged that the department's afternoon sobriety checks were designed to snare unlicensed illegal immigrants and generate money. About 96% of the city's population is Latino...

A TIMES INVESTIGATIONMaywood hires police with past troublesLos Angeles Times, CABy Matt Lait and Scott GloverApril 1, 2007[Excerpts] THE Maywood Police Department - a 37-man force that patrols a gritty square-mile city south of downtown Los Angeles - has become a haven for misfit cops who have been pushed out of other law enforcement agencies for crimes or serious misconduct... Other officers were hired by Maywood after flunking out of training programs elsewhere... In all, at least a third of the officers on the force have either left other police jobs under a cloud or have had brushes with the law while working for Maywood... Even the newly appointed police chief has a checkered past: He was convicted of beating his girlfriend and resigned from the El Monte Police Department before he could be fired. His conviction was later overturned on appeal because the defense was not allowed to exclude a juror who had previously worked with domestic violence victims. He was ultimately convicted of a lesser charge of making a verbal threat... Amid the chaos, Bruce Leflar, still listed on the department's website as chief, abruptly stopped showing up for work last fall. And the officer whom he'd appointed to clean up the department, Al Hutchings, agreed to resign his post after being told a videotape had been made of him allegedly having an on-duty liaison with the female owner of a local doughnut store... In addition to hiring officers shunned by other agencies, Maywood has been slow to adopt policing practices in place at bigger departments, which are aimed at ensuring professional conduct and increasing public trust... supervisors at the department don't always see the need for documenting citizens' complaints... In a recent deposition, the lieutenant in charge of internal affairs said complaints were often "resolved casually" in the lobby of the police station...

A man who nearly two weeks ago was tapped to become the city of Maywood's interim police chief -- despite having been convicted of theft and resigning from the Los Angeles Police Department -- has stepped down from the position at the request of the city's mayor.

On Tuesday night, Maywood city leaders voted 5 to 0 to appoint Maywood Cmdr. Frank Hauptmann as their interim chief while a search for a permanent replacement was conducted.

Unlike Al Hutchings, whose selection for the job on Feb. 1 prompted an immediate outcry from residents and officers, Hauptmann is generally supported by the rank and file and has an unblemished record, according to officials with the state attorney general's office.

"I think I made it very clear in the beginning . . . my goal was to help reform the department," Hauptmann said after the vote. He said he would bring a new policy manual to the department and institute a new recruiting process, among other improvements.

Mayor Felipe Aguirre, who helped orchestrate Hutchings' appointment as interim chief, withdrew his support after meetings between the city and the attorney general's office, which has been investigating allegations of wrongdoing by officers in the troubled police department. The district attorney also is investigating, authorities said.

Maywood City Atty. Francisco Leal said authorities investigating the department had expressed concerns about Hutchings in the days before the council's decision.

He said the Los Angeles County district attorney's office had requested several files they deemed "sensitive" and did not want to be accessible to Hutchings, including his own.

Officials from the attorney general's office also told city leaders that appointing Hutchings would be a mistake, Leal said. The council ignored those warnings, voting 3 to 2 to hire Hutchings. Although he was sworn in Feb. 4, he never assumed the duties of chief because his background check had not been conducted.

Senior Assistant Atty. Gen. Louis Verdugo said that after Hutchings' appointment, his office concluded that in selecting him, Maywood could have violated state and local codes regarding background checks and qualifications for those serving as chief of police.

If Hutchings and Aguirre had not backed off, Leal said, the attorney general's office indicated that it would have taken legal action.

State investigators, he said, could not understand why Hutchings had been chosen, when it seemed "such an easy decision" to select someone with a clean background.

In some ways, Hutchings' selection was not much of a surprise.

The Maywood Police Department is known for giving "second chances" to officers fired from other agencies. A Times investigation of Maywood last year found that at least a third of the officers on the force had brushes with the law or had left other departments with their ethics in question.

Hutchings, who was hired by Maywood in 2006, was one such officer. He pleaded no contest to charges that he bilked the LAPD for overtime pay while an officer there, a conviction he has had expunged from his record.

And in 2005 he was fired for acts of dishonesty from Los Angeles Valley College, where he was a instructor.

Before his one-year probationary period ended in Maywood, Hutchings resigned amid charges that he had been videotaped having an on-duty liaison with the female owner of a local doughnut shop.

He said the charges are a sham, aimed at discrediting him because he was exposing brutal and corrupt officers on the force.

Read OIR Office of Independent Review. The case studies are of Maywood Police Officers. Andrew Serrata is one of them. He was hired by Los Angeles Sherrif Department. He lied on his application and continues to lie in court. He has lawsuite which he has never paid. He has lied in court document in Orange County in Family Court. Lied to Irvine Police Department.

Good! But I heard he is in backgrounds with California City Police Department along with another questionable Maywood Police Officers i.e. Frank Huizar (formerly known as Frank Garcia) who had to change his name to elude his controversial past with the Huntington Park Police and the Maywood Police Departments, where there were allegations of misconduct to say the least. It is widely known in the law enforcement field that Frank Huizar was arrested for D.U.I., Shooting at a stop sign, resisting arrest and having inappropriate relations with multiple female subordinates resulting in at least one pregnancy.

Shit is hitting the fan in Cal City now.. The residents here are getting this info and we are NOT HAPPY with this... The public will prevail. Our Chief since 1990 is suspended (scape goat)and Garcia-Huizar has been put in as a temporary chief..